(VILNIUS) - Lithuania warned Thursday it could reject EU caps on carbon dioxide emissions if the bloc fails to let it delay the closure of a Soviet-era nuclear plant that provides the bulk of its power.

"Unless the energy security problems Lithuania would face after closing the Ignalina plant at the end of 2009 are solved, we will not approve the climate change programme," Economy Minister Vytas Navickas was quoted as saying by the news agency BNS.

He said Lithuania wanted a far higher emissions allowance than it had been allocated by the EU, and was also seeking around one billion euros (1.4 billion dollars) in financial aid.

Navickas' spokesman Ricardas Slapsys confirmed the comments, telling AFP the minister would make the warning formally at an EU energy meeting Friday in Luxembourg.

Lithuania is scrambling to convince its 26 fellow European Union member states to delay the looming closure of its Chernobyl-type Ignalina nuclear power plant, which provides more than two-thirds of its electricity.

Lithuania argues that if it has to rely on power generated by fossil fuels, it will not be in a position to respect the caps set by Brussels on carbon dioxide, one of the main gases held responsible for global climate change.

Shutting Ignalina by the end of 2009 was one of the conditions for the Baltic state's admission to the EU, which it joined in 2004.

EU diplomats have said the bloc will not brook a breach of Lithuania's entry terms, but Vilnius wants to push the deadline back to 2012, Navickas was quoted as saying by BNS.

On Sunday, alongside parliamentary elections, Lithuania's 2.7 million voters have been called out for a referendum on extending the life of the 1980s plant.

Lithuanian authorities and analysts have said that the power shortages and energy price hikes expected to follow Ignalina's shutdown could inflict deep economic damage on the country at a time when its long economic boom is tailing off.

Lithuania is in talks with fellow EU members and neighbours Latvia, Estonia and Poland on building a new plant at the Ignalina site, meant to come on stream by 2015, although experts suggest 2017-2020 is more realistic.

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